Can you guess what the 'worst-run states in America' award-winners have in common?

The financial website 24/7 Wall St. analyzed the worst-run states in America. Can you guess what the worst three states have in common?

48. Michigan
> State debt per capita: $2,963 (21st lowest)
> Pct. without health insurance: 12.4% (18th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 15.7% (15th highest)
> Unemployment: 11.1% (3rd highest)

Michigan has arguably suffered more than any state in post-industrial America. The state is one of just four with a credit rating of AA-, although its debt per capita is actually below average. The state ranks among the worst in the country for violent crime, unemployment, foreclosures and home price decline.
Source: (September, 2011): From the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2010, the percentage of residents 25 or older with a high school diploma

49. Illinois
> State debt per capita: $4,424 (13th highest)
> Pct. without health insurance: 13.8% (23rd lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 13.1% (25th lowest)
> Unemployment: 10% (10th highest)

Illinois has fallen from 43rd last year to the overall second-worst run state in the country. The state performs poorly in most categories, but is worst when it comes to its credit rating. Illinois has a credit rating of A+, the second worst given to any state, behind only California. The state has been on credit watch since 2008 because of budget shortfalls and legal challenges against then-governor Rod Blagojevich.

50. California
> State debt per capita: $3,660 (21st highest)
> Pct. without health insurance: 18.5% (8th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 14.5% (tied for 21st highest)
> Unemployment: 11.9% (2nd highest)

California has moved down one slot on from last year to earn the title of the worst-run state in the country. In the fiscal year 2009, the state spent $430 billion, roughly 14% of all the money spent by states in that year. Compared to its revenue, the state spent too much — California had the 10th lowest revenue per person, and spent the 15th most per person. California is the only state in the country to be rated A-, the lowest rating ever given to a state by S&P. Despite the huge amount the state spends each year, conditions remain poor. California has the second-lowest percentage of adults with a high school diploma in the country, the second-highest foreclosure rate and is tied for the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S.

What they have in common is this:

• Decades of unchecked Democrat control at every level of government

• Massive, bloated, public sector unions that are intertwined with the Democrat Party and demand increasing percentages of the economy; they have but one aim: to enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayer

• Sanctuary cities that attract illegals, programs that offer easy access to welfare payments and government subsistence programs, high rates of single-parent families, and therefore high levels of urban crime

You would think that someone in legacy media would actually analyze this data and report on it, but then again, I've always been a dreamer.

161 years ago this fall [Juandos]

Juandos:

DO you know what happened 161 years ago this fall... back in 1850, in California?

• California became a state.

• The people had no electricity.

• The state had no money.

• Almost everyone spoke Spanish.

• There were gunfights in the streets.

So basically nothing has changed except back then the women had real boobs and the men didn't hold hands.

And, that is the history lesson for today...

Juandos appears to have inherited the same un-P.C. gene that Papa B possesses.

California Teachers' Pension System Gets Good News and Bad News. The Good: It's Not $50B In the Hole. The Bad: It's Actually $150B.

Looks like generally accepted accounting principles are anathema to Democrats. But we already knew that.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System already faces a funding gap of $56 billion – the difference between the money it expects to have on hand over the next 30 years and what it will need to pay out in benefits during the same period.

The [GASB or Governmental Accounting Standards Board] proposal would triple the gap – on paper – to around $150 billion...

Right now, funds base their calculation on a forecast of how their investments will do. CalSTRS, for instance, says it will earn an average 7.75 percent a year on stocks, bonds and other investments...

...But because public pensions are guaranteed by taxpayers, conservatives and some academics contend pension funds should use a rate comparable to a super-safe investment like Treasury bills – something on the order of 4 percent.

The state teachers' pension system is just one of several immense public pension liabilities facing California's taxpayers. A 2010 Stanford University study put the state's combined public pension liabilities at well over half a trillion dollars.

As you might expect in the battle between sensible fiscal policy and Democrats, Governor Moonbeam is backing -- that's right -- the unions, not the taxpayers:

The Los Angeles Times summarized the Brown signing and veto flurry with this headline: “Gov. Jerry Brown is giving unions most of what they seek.” As the news story reported, “When the dust settled on Gov. Jerry Brown’s first legislative session in nearly three decades, no group had won more than organized labor, which heralded its largest string of victories in nearly a decade.” Union leaders were crowing with delight.

For instance, the governor signed a bill that makes it nearly impossible for municipalities to declare bankruptcy, forcing them instead to go through a mediation process that is dominated by union supporters who would oppose bankruptcy at all costs. Salaries and benefits are consuming such a large portion of city budgets that officials have no choice but to shut down parks and lay off workers.

The unions won’t budge on benefits, so their goal is to make it impossible to abrogate those overly generous union contracts that are the source of the problem.

Isn't letting Democrats run wild in your state fun?

Of course, it's not much fun if you're a beleaguered taxpayer in California. That breed of productive citizen is an endangered species, what with all of the easy access to welfare, open borders and millions of pages of regulations.

*** Sniff *** California Kids Face Days Without Class as Revenue Falls Short. Hey, Let's Subsidize Tuition for Illegal Aliens!

I've diagnosed this aspect of modern liberalism as disorganized schizophrenia.

Public schools in California, which already spend less per student than those in 28 states, are bracing for a $1.7 billion cut that may wipe out high-school sports and student busing, and trim the academic calendar by seven days next year.

Automatic cuts built into this year's budget, intended to protect bondholders if revenue falls short of projections, are drawing new attention after California fell $705 million behind estimates in the first quarter.

A shortfall of $1 billion will slash hundreds of millions of dollars from universities and care of the elderly and disabled. A deficit of $2 billion will trigger reductions to public schools, creating "a fiscal emergency" that could leave some districts insolvent, a group of superintendents told Governor Jerry Brown in a Sept. 15 letter...

What would you do if you were Governor Brown?

You guessed it, Kreskin: subsidize illegal aliens with California's own, delightful version of 'The Dream Act':

Undocumented students now receive access to public aid.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 131 — the second part of the DREAM Act — into law on Oct. 9, making undocumented students eligible to receive state financial aid to attend California community colleges and universities...

In other words, even though illegal aliens cost the state's taxpayers at least $10.4 billion a year, Governor Brown wants to subsidize illegal behavior and encourage more of it. All while kids are forced to go without an ever-increasing number of school days.

Which leads to my definitive conclusion that Democrats are disorganized schizophrenics.

And painfully stupid to boot.

Terminal Stupidity: the California Story

Well, what the hell else would you call this:

...In California, illegal immigrants enrolling in college will be eligible for state scholarships and financial aid beginning next July.

Over the weekend, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the second portion of the state’s Dream Act into law. The legislation allows illegal immigrants who graduate from high schools in California to apply to the state’s public universities as residents, granting them a reduced tuition rate...

...In light of the "Dream Act" passage, please consider California Nears Automatic Spending Cuts With Revenue $705 Million Short:

California’s revenue for the fiscal year that began three months ago has fallen $705 million below what Governor Jerry Brown and Democrats projected, approaching a level that may trigger automatic university spending cuts and higher community college fees...

...Education costs are poised to rise for everyone in California except illegal aliens who get a reduced rate. Is this a dream or a nightmare? The answer depends on whether or not you are an illegal alien (or a politician who gets elected pandering to them).

Illegal immigration costs Californians at least $10.4 billion a year.

Oh, and that figure was tallied before the state's insane "Dream Act", which rewards illegal immigration and encourages more of it.

If illegals were entering the state and taking Democrat legislators' jobs, I feel certain they wouldn't be quite so welcome.

California's Version of the 'Buffet Rule' Working Out Beautifully. Oh, Wait: It's Actually an Unmitigated Disaster.

'Progressive' left hardest hit.

The state's over-reliance on taxing the rich has been a disaster during bad times

If President Obama really wants to see the "Buffett Rule" in action, he should look at California's tax system. The state has been plagued by it for years.

The revenue stream is unstable and the state budget has been a deficit disaster... In California, we've got what you could call a Buffett Rule-Plus. There's an extra tax bracket — at 10.3% — for income exceeding $1 million.

...California relies heavily on rich investors for its income tax revenue, which fuels half of the general fund... Some examples of this over-dependence, based on the 2009 tax year:

• The top 1% earned 18% of California's income but paid 37% of the income tax.

Illustrating the volatility of the California income tax, however, the top 1% paid 48% of the total take in 2007 before the stock market collapsed. In the next two years, the state's income tax revenue fell 25%.

• The top 10% earned 45% of the income but paid 72% of the taxes.

• During the recession, the middle class paid a slightly larger share of the declining income tax take. Those earning between $45,000 and $84,000 kicked in 11% of the total revenue in 2009, compared to 9% two years earlier. But one could argue they still were under-taxed. They earned 19% of the income.

"The real people who don't get taxed enough in California are the middle-income folks," says Steve Levy, director of the left-leaning Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy...

...Meanwhile, if Buffett really wanted to live by his own rule, he could leave Nebraska, move to California and pay our state taxes.

The math is actually pretty simple, unless you're a Democrat:

• If you punish success, you drive successful people away.

• If you reward sloth, you get more sloth.

• If you promote illegal behavior (such as illegal immigration), you get more illegal behavior.

But you can be sure that none of the tautological facts describing human behavior will ever influence a single progressive. Because for drones, ideology always trumps facts, logic, history and reason.


Image: HillBuzz.